


This phase is gonna fly by so, baby, just hold on, cuz it won't be like this for long

by TheSpaceHairAndTheSpaceIdiot



Series: Someone Tell Me What Happened Because I Don't Remember a Thing [2]
Category: Doctor Who RPF
Genre: F/M, It's a sequel but can be read on its own, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-27
Updated: 2015-07-27
Packaged: 2018-04-11 12:08:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4434917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpaceHairAndTheSpaceIdiot/pseuds/TheSpaceHairAndTheSpaceIdiot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before he'd become a father, Matt had always assumed he'd be more the type who'd be happy to let his child explore and make a mess and get into a bit of trouble without constantly having to say no or tell him to stop. It was still a concept he believed in and hopefully someday soon, he could go back to being more relaxed and laid back. But, as Alex had made the comparison a few weeks before, it was almost like their two year old had been possessed by an alien. A hyperactive, curious, rambunctious, daredevil, destructive alien - who was currently in the process of ruining one of Matt's favorite vinyl records.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This phase is gonna fly by so, baby, just hold on, cuz it won't be like this for long

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo... this is a sequel. To a fic I finished well over a year ago. I always said I wouldn't come back to play in this universe, mostly because very few people besides me would care and also because I left the original in a good place. But I mentioned to hellogumdrop on tumblr that I was having trouble focusing on writing and she gave me a challenge to write something using ten random words and this little look ahead into this universe popped pretty fully-formed into my head and I gave in and wrote it. So this is 1000% her fault.
> 
> For those of you who are reading this who didn't read the original, you really don't need to to understand this. It's just shameless kidfic. Basically, Matt and Alex adopted a one year old boy and it's now two years later. Title from Darius Rucker's "It Won't Be Like This For Long". I hope you enjoy!

" _No_ , _Jamie, stop that_!"

Sometimes it seemed like those words were the most commonly spoken in their house these days. It was getting to the point where Matt often joked that they should have named their son Jamie "Stop-that" Smith, since those words so often followed his given name already.

Before he'd become a father, Matt had always assumed he'd be more the type who'd be happy to let his child explore and make a mess and get into a bit of trouble without constantly having to say no or tell him to stop. It was still a concept he believed in and hopefully someday soon, he could go back to being more relaxed and laid back. But, as Alex had made the comparison a few weeks before, it was almost like their two year old had been possessed by an alien. A hyperactive, curious, rambunctious, daredevil, _destructive_ alien - who was currently in the process of _ruining_ one of Matt's favorite vinyl records.

Jumping from his seat, Matt rushed around his desk and snatched the record from the little boy's wet, sticky hand. "No, no, _no_! Why would you _do_ that?" He reached immediately for the roll of paper towels on his desk - they now kept one in every room of the house - and took the now spongy and squashed piece of cantaloupe from Jamie's other hand, tossed it in the trash bin in the corner, and wiped both the boy's hands clean.

Jamie, of course, was undeterred by the obvious dismay on Matt's face. "It's music!" he said excitedly, pointing to the television that was currently playing some popular children's show. Matt only had to glance at it for a moment before he understood - the show that was playing was exploring different types of music - including appearances by both a now practically antique record player and a more modern turntable. Jamie had seen Matt taking various albums off the low-level shelf here in his office countless times and must have wanted to imitate what he'd seen on the show. That apparently included using the piece of fruit Matt had given him for a snack to squeeze juice onto the record and rub his fingers over it, enjoying the squeaking sounds it made.

Matt groaned and looked forlornly at the record, still shining with juice. He'd do his best to salvage it, but in all honesty, it was probably a lost cause. It would most likely have to be replaced. Steeling his nerves, Matt got down on his knees next to Jamie and looked him square in the eye.

"Jamie, you know Daddy's records aren't toys for you to play with. You aren't supposed to touch them without my help," Matt said, doing his best to be stern without sounding _too_ angry. He had to admit, it was difficult. "We talked about that. You remember, don't you?"

To his credit, Jamie managed to look guilty, his bottom lip jutting out, and looked down at the floor, avoiding Matt's gaze. "Yes."

Matt stuck his hand under the boy's chin, forced him to look up again, and held up the ruined record. "Then why did you take this out without asking?"

"B'cause I wann'ed to make music too!" Jamie answered, light and excitement crossing quickly back onto his face.

"You have a million toys upstairs that make music, plus your own guitar. You can make music anytime you want!"

"Not like that!" he exclaimed, pointing to the tv again and miming with his fingers his earlier movements of pretending to scratch along the record.

Matt sighed. This is probably what he got for hoping the television would keep Jamie entertained while he got some much-needed script reading done. "I don't care. You have to ask if you wanna touch the records, you know that. And now - it may not look like it, but this is probably broken now," he said carefully, waving the record in his hand. "How would you feel if I went up to your room and broke one of your toys?"

That got his point across. The look the boy gave both tugged at Matt's heartstrings and made him want to laugh at the same time. He looked horrified and then just miserable, a pout of epic proportions crossing his face as he mumbled, "Sad."

"Sad, yeah. Well, now I'm sad. What do you have to say about that?"

Jamie thought about that for a few seconds, his face showing several different emotions, before throwing himself at Matt, his arms going tightly around his neck. "I'm sowwy, Daddy!" he cried out, obviously feeling guilty.

And now Matt's heart was melting, his brain already starting to forget about the ruined record as he wrapped his arms around his son, hugging him back, and then stood, placing the record on his desk and rubbing Jamie's back comfortingly. "It's ok, bud, but you have to promise not to to ever to it again, ok?"

With his nose buried in Matt's neck, Jamie's response was muffled. "I pwomise!"

The promise did little to give Matt any real confidence that a similar incident wouldn't be along before he could blink, but he supposed it was a start.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Alex got home later that night, Matt had only just gotten Jamie down for the night and he was now feeling like sleeping was the best idea in the world, the early hour be damned. He was laying on his front, eyes closed, with his arms wrapped around the pillow buried beneath his head, trying to enjoy the relatively short amount of rest he would be allowed before Jamie woke up and started terrorizing the house again.

He heard his wife walk up the stairs. It was a minute before he heard her approach their room, most likely checking on Jamie, but when she did, he made no effort to move at all. He heard her give a sympathetic low-throated chuckle. "Rough day?"

With great effort, Matt cracked one eye open and looked over at Alex leaning against the doorframe, one hand on her hip. She was dressed nicely, in a smart and rather conservative (for Alex, at least) button-down shirt and a surprisingly matching skirt. There had been some sort of cast party for her latest project and she'd been gone most of the day, leaving Matt with the usually wonderful but lately exhausting task of looking after their son on his own the whole time. As much as he loved her, a tiny little portion of him hated her in this moment. He was sure it would pass within the next few seconds - it always did.

"You have  _no_ idea."

She laughed lightly and came over to sit on the bed next to him, closing the bedroom door behind her. She started to gently run her fingers through his hair, scratching at his scalp just the way he liked - and yeah, his very brief moment of jealousy over her disaster-and-tantrum-free day was over and he suddenly felt like a very content, albeit exhausted, cat. He dug his face back into his pillow and moaned, angling his head to ensure her fingers went exactly where he wanted them to.

"So what did he do today?"

"What didn't he do?" Matt groaned into his pillow. "For starters, my favorite Radiohead album? Ruined."

Alex gasped, her hand pausing on his head. "No! He broke it?"

He rolled over onto his back and brought one hand up to rest on his forehead. "I mean, he didn't go so far as snapping it, but it's unusable. Apparently he decided he simply had to imitate the DJ at the turntable on some show on the telly and used the record as an outlet to express his musical  _talents_ . Took it out, squeezed all the juice from a piece of fruit onto it and started running his fingers all over it. And with the juice, of course, his fingers made it squeak, which is when I realized what he was doing. But by then it was too late."

Alex tutted sympathetically. "Are you sure it's ruined? He didn't actually snap it, maybe it can be salvaged?"

"Nah, I tried cleaning it up and playing it. It plays, but there's this ticking sound every few seconds and it's just -" He groaned again. "Just tell me this phase ends soon? He's turning three in a few weeks, maybe it'll be like a light switch?"

"God, I hope so. I don't know what I'll do if I have to deal with another trip to A&E," Alex said, a look of horror at the memory crossing her face.

Matt agreed wholeheartedly, the whole experience one he'd rather forget. The month before, Alex had been doing laundry while Jamie had been taking his nap, only as she was finishing up, she'd turned around to find him behind her, the cap to the mostly - but not completely - empty bottle of bleach she'd just discarded pressed to his lips. Not knowing how much of the toxic liquid he'd managed to get from the bottle, or indeed how much would warrant an actual emergency, she'd panicked and called out for Matt, who immediately joined her in panicking, and together, the three or them had rushed to the nearest hospital. It was quickly determined that Jamie had thankfully not swallowed enough to cause any damage and they'd been sent home after flushing his system with water. A very fortunate outcome, but a horrifying memory for both he and Alex to look back on.

"Yeah, well, luckily nothing else has warranted a medical emergency. Let's hope it stays that way." Mustering up his energy, Matt pushed himself into a sitting position. With his head no longer easily accessible, Alex took the opportunity to lean down and start taking the heels off her feet. Once they were off she left them on the ground and started to move to sit directly next to him before he stopped her.

"You might not wanna just leave those there. Before you know it, Jamie will have found them, smuggled them out into the yard, and starting using them to play fetch with Bo. It'll be bye, bye to the very sexy shoes."

"He probably would do exactly that!" Alex laughed grimly. She picked the shoes up off the floor and walked to the closet, where she stuck them in their rightful place. "But then it'd be just like when he went on a pretend jungle hike right through my garden. I'd want to kill him but then he'd turn those great big puppy dog eyes on me and apologize and throw himself in my arms like every other time, and I'd melt."

Matt chuckled wryly. "Case-in-point: that's exactly what happened today with the record. I talked to him, he said he was sorry and gave me a hug and I melted, the whole thing forgotten until he was taking his nap and I went back to see if the bloody thing was salvageable."

"Maybe we should look into locking those old albums of yours away so nothing like this happens again?" Alex said. She was now standing in front of the mirror, unpinning her hair from the up-do she'd had it in all day, watching him behind her in the reflection.

"Yeah, maybe. He did promise to never do it again and I think I drilled it into his head enough to keep a repeat from happening, but hey, he's not even three yet. Who knows what'll happen tomorrow - especially with all the stunts he's been pulling lately?"

Alex finally turned back around and began pulling the clothes she was wearing off, the nightgown she planned to don already laid out on the bed in front of her. There was nothing particularly sexy about the way she was undressing, she wasn't putting on a show for his benefit, but Matt couldn't help staring anyway, all of his earlier exhaustion forgotten in the blink of an eye. The sight of his wife's bare body always, without fail, drove him to single-minded distraction, and it had been far longer than he was happy about since they'd had both the time or the energy for anything even resembling sex.

All too quickly, however, she was dressed again, and to his very slight embarrassment, he realized from the knowing smirk on Alex's face, that he'd completely missed what she'd said while changing. He only grinned sheepishly and gave a shrug of his shoulders, knowing she wouldn't be angry.

As he'd expected, she only gave a fond roll of her eyes and repeated herself. "I said I went to go check on him when I came upstairs, and as usual, there's Bo sleeping next to him, and that poor dog is still looking a little matted."

Once again, Matt groaned, burying his face in his hands. "Don't remind me!" The day before, he had made the brilliant decision to give Jamie a small bowl of melted marshmallows, then proceeded to let the boy out of his sight. Not two minutes later, Matt had walked into the living room to find Jamie spreading the very sticky substance all over the dog's fur. Matt had spent over an hour giving the very unwilling dog a bath and still hadn't managed to get him fully clean. "I'll give it another go tomorrow. There wasn't any time today, not between the incident with the record and then the pulling all the couch cushions to the ground every five minutes, and repeatedly knocking his water cup over just to see how I'd react, the tantrum when I wouldn't let him watch television anymore, oh, and remind me I have to rinse down Salome's bicycle before she get's back from Florian's next week. I let him outside to run off some of his energy, he found it out behind the shed, and basically now every inch of it is covered in mud."

"He covered her bicycle in mud?" Alex asked, her head titled to one side in obvious befuddlement.

"Oh, yeah. When I asked him why, he said he was  _painting_ it because Sal didn't like the color and she  _asked_ him to. When I pointed out that she wasn't even home and was over in America, he said she called him. On that toy mobile we bought him."

"Oh my  _God_ !" Alex said in exasperation as she flopped down on the bed, curling up into his side. "What are we going to do with him?"

"You've done this before, you tell me!" he laughed, turning onto his side so that the two of them were facing each other.

Alex made a face and her nose scrunched up, which Matt always found adorable. "Salome went through the Terrible Twos, but it was never like this! I swear sometimes he's  _actually_ an alien. They should base an episode of  _Who_ on him."

Matt gave a soft laugh in response to that idea. His hand reached out for the strand of curls falling into Alex's face. He captured it in his fingers and started playing with it, a favorite pastime of his. "Do you remember when he first came to us? He was so quiet and timid! Now look at him!"

"I wasn't the one who was having memory problems that day, darling, of course I remember."

Letting out a bark of laughter at the callback to his short bout of amnesia, he leaned in and kissed her soundly. He'd only intended it to be a brief peck, but they ended up letting the kiss linger, enjoying the moment for just a few more seconds. When he pulled back, Alex was smiling widely and her eyes were gleaming.

"Yeah, well, my memory problems have long since been resolved, as you are well aware of, which is how I know to do this." He leaned up on his elbow, angling himself to be able to place a kiss on her throat, right over her pulse point. "And this." His hand reached up and pushed her curls out of the way, kissing behind her ear. She gave a small but appreciative moan. "And  _this_ ." He kissed her lips again, much more deeply than before. Her mouth opened instantly under his, allowing his tongue entrance to brush against hers. 

He relished the taste of Alex's mouth, but also the way her hand snaked up and clung to the back of his neck, the way her hips were already pressed insistently against his, and the little sighs and moans she was letting loose - all from just a kiss. Not that he was any better. It really had been far too many weeks since they'd allowed themselves this sort of time or contact with each other. They'd have to make sure that didn't happen again. Matt didn't love the idea of scheduling sex, but if it was the only way they could ensure their time together with their recent hectic schedules, he'd do it.

Matt's hand had already drifted down to the hem of her nightgown and his fingers were just starting the slow crawl up her thigh, toward the apex of her legs, when there was a tiny, hesitant knock on the door. It was so quiet, neither of them paid it any mind, assuming they were hearing things. But then it sounded again, just a bit louder. Regretfully, they broke apart and both looked towards the door, knowing exactly who stood on the other side and that it most assuredly spelled the end of their romantic night before it had even begun.

"Rain check?" Matt whispered to Alex.

"Oh, you'd better bet I'm holding you to that," she said, sitting up and making sure her nightgown was fully covering her again as Matt chuckled and called out to Jamie to come in.

The door creaked open slowly, the hand on the doorknob higher than Jamie's head and his other hand clutching the stuffed giraffe Alex had bought the week before he came to live with them, saying it reminded her of Matt. Jamie now slept with it at night and never left the house without it.

"Hey, bud, what's wrong?" Matt asked him, taking in the sleep-muddled and unhappy look on his face.

"Had a bad dweam," Jamie said despondently, and now that he had, Matt could see the telltale marks - how pale his face was, the slight shaking of his lips as if he were close to tears, and how he hugged his giraffe even closer to his body than usual.

With only a quick glance at Alex to make sure they were on the same page, Matt quickly motioned for the boy to come join them in bed. Instantly, his face broke out in a wide smile as he made a dash to the bed, jumping up onto it and throwing himself in between his parents. He dropped the giraffe into Matt's lap for safe-keeping and turned quickly to Alex.

"Hi, Mummy!" he said happily, throwing himself into her arms before she even knew what had happened. Alex had to throw an arm out to stop herself from being knocked backward into the headboard due to the child cannonball that had launched itself at her, but recovered quickly and wrapped both arms around him tightly.

"Hello, sweetheart! I missed you today!" She pressed a kiss to his head and settled him in her lap. "Now what's this I hear about a bad dream, hmm? Want to talk about it?"

He only shook his head and leaned over, turning his face into the crook of Alex's arm.

"No? Why not?" Matt asked him, reaching over and rubbing the boy's shoulder. "Mummy and Daddy are very good at banishing nightmares. It's what we're here for."

"Don't 'member."

"You don't remember?" Matt gasped playfully and leaned over, grabbing Jamie around the waist and hauling him back into the space between he and Alex. "Well, then how do you know it was a bad dream? Maybe you had a really  _cool_ dream and it was so cool and so fun that it woke you up?"

Jamie closed his eyes tightly and shook his head sharply, his dark hair flopping around the top of his head wildly. "I know it was bad 'cuz when I woke up, I was scared. And - and then it was dark and I got scared-er."

"Well, we can't be having that now, can we?" Alex said sympathetically, glancing over at Matt. "Jamie, you know there's nothing in your room that can hurt you and you have Bo right there with you, and Matty the Giraffe, and Mummy and Daddy are right down the hall and we'd  _never_ let anything happen to you, no matter what those bad dreams make you feel...  _but_ maybe you could sleep in here with us - just for tonight."

Jamie squealed excitedly and before either of them could stop him, had jumped to his feet and started bouncing on the bed in celebration. As quickly as his reflexes allowed, Matt managed to scoop him right out of the air and brought him back down to the mattress, laying him flat down. "Ah, ah, ah, none of that! It's bedtime now! You can stay in here, bud, but you have to go to  _sleep_ , ok? Got that?"

Still grinning widely, Jamie nodded and shut his eyes tightly to show he was listening. He didn't last long, however, before he opened them with a little, half-stifled giggle, which made both Matt and Alex chuckle despite their better judgement. As Alex grabbed Matty the giraffe and placed him back in Jamie's waiting arms, Matt reached down to the the end of the bed to pull the covers up. Just as he finished making sure the boy was covered and tucked in, he was interrupted by a loud bark next to him.

He looked and was unsurprised to find Bo, the bowtie-collared Beagle they'd gotten Jamie the day his adoption was finalized, sitting impatiently beside the bed, almost shaking with the repressed desire to jump up onto the bed to join them. "Oh, all right, you too, Bo, come on up!" he said with a wave of his arm. Immediately the dog leaped, landing a little painfully in Matt's lap before bounding next to him to curl up next to Jamie, just as he did every night. Neither of them seemed the least bit bothered by the hard, sticky texture of the marshmallows still coated into the dog's fur.

With their son nestled between the both of them, tucked in with his giraffe and his dog, Alex and Matt took turns leaning over him and kissing his head, telling him goodnight. With one joint and already sleep-infused mumble of "G'night", Jamie finally closed his eyes and was sleeping peacefully within a minute.

After giving it an extra minute to make sure he was fully out, Alex spoke up quietly. "He looks like a little angel when he's asleep, doesn't he?"

Matt chuckled lightly and reached over Jamie's tiny body to grasp Alex's hand, twining their fingers together. "An angel when he's asleep, an alien when he's awake?"

She grinned back at him, her eyes dropping to watch the rise and fall of their son's chest. "Either way, he's just not of this world, I guess."

"That he most certainly is not," Matt said fondly, looking down to join her in watching him sleep. "But considering the characters _we_ were playing when we met, I think that's rather fitting, don't you?"

Alex brought their joined hands up to her mouth and brushed his knuckles across her lips. "Very fitting, darling. Besides, sooner than we may like, we're going to be missing days like this. It feels like just yesterday Salome was this small and now she's sixteen, practically all grown up. He won't be little like this forever." Her words resonating in his head, he just squeezed her hand in response and they fell into comfortable silence.

Laying there in his bed, with his wife and his son beside him, Matt could find nothing to complain about. Moments like the one they'd just shared and the feeling he now felt in his chest made all the temper tantrums, all the accidents, all the frustration and exhaustion he felt in the more hectic moments simply melt away. He knew Alex was right, that these few years they had when their son was small were limited and precious and that in the end, none of the bad or difficult bits mattered. Just this, right here, the three of them, and Salome when she got home, together, enjoying the time they had as a family. Giving Jamie once last glance and Alex's hand one more comforting squeeze, Matt finally closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

 


End file.
